Category Archives: Technology Integratioin

I just know you’re going to love this – whether you teach Kindergarten or college, Spelling or Trigonometry…this site is really something that all educators can use daily! It’s called ClassroomScreen, and it is precisely that. It is a background screen that you can project and just sort of leave up all day. It has a handy tool bank across the bottom of the screen full of things we all need, love, and use in our classrooms all the time. ClassroomScreen just puts it all in one place – with one brilliantly simple interface – so that all the tools are accessible to you all day long!

After you open the ClassroomScreen website, begin customizing your screen. You choose the background image from a very nice selection of photos:

Just look at all of those tools across the bottom! They’re very self-explanatory, so I’m just going to give you a quick little photo tour of what they’ll look like on your screen:

Random name generator…click choose and it selects one name from your personalized class list!

Calculator

Simple drawing tool – you can choose small screen (like I did) or full-screen.

Text box – you can copy/paste from another source, and use formatting tools including emojis

Work Symbols lets you display your expectation for the sound levels in your classroom

Traffic Light is another classroom management tool that you can display

Timer

Clock – displayed both ways, with date (click on date to reveal monthly calendar) – As you can see, I do random blog posting in the middle of the night!

There’s not much else to say except that I think a tool like this is remarkably handy. There is a brief little YouTube video about ClassroomScreen that shows you how this works, but I’m pretty sure you already have it figured out. Have fun!

I’ll be really curious to know if any of you end up using this during the school year, so drop me a comment to let me know what you think of it. If you’re reading this on my blog, just enter comments here, or you can find this posted on my Facebook page (Integration Innovation) and I’m also on Twitter as @kerszi – Thanks!

I learned about this in the strangest way. Last summer, I was traveling through New England with my family. It was nighttime, and we were driving over a bridge that was lit up and interesting – and I thought was pretty. I snapped an iPhone photo from the passenger seat, and quickly posted it to Facebook with the caption, “Who knows where I am?”

My buddy Kevin came back almost instantly with the name and location of the bridge, and I was shocked! I assumed he was familiar with the area. He admitted that he just used Google Reverse Image Search.

TBH, I had no idea what he was talking about, so I made it a point to – well – Google it! It’s another super-cool, super-easy way to WOW your friends and perhaps look like a genius from time to time. I’ll bet you can come up with great ways to use it with students. Tonight, I used it to satisfy my curiosity. A few weeks ago, I had gone for a walk and noticed these beautiful little purple flowers. I had taken a picture, and tonight I used Google Reverse Image Search to figure out what they were!

I started at the URL shown below, which is the site for Google Images. Notice the little black camera in the search bar, and when I hovered over it, it says “Search By Image”.

Next, I chose “Upload an image”. (I had saved the photo to my laptop, so it was easy to upload.)

After I uploaded the file and clicked the little “search” magnifying glass, this is what I got:

“Oh, joy”, I thought – Google just let me know that this thing was – a flower? Hmmmmphh….I almost thought I had wasted my time, until I scrolled down JUST a few inches and found this:

Aaaah….thanks Google! Now we’re talking. Google found “visually similar images” for me, and that 4th one on the top is pretty much an exact match, so I clicked on it.

How cool is that? I narrowed it down until I surmised that my little flower was – a periwinkle!

There are lots of times my students and I wonder, “What IS that?” (and…umm…sometimes it might be better if we don’t know…you know how THAT is, right?) Google Reverse Image Search gives us a fun and cool way to do a little investigating, a little research, a little debating, and a little deducing to find answers to some of our most burning questions!

In doing a little research for this post, I found these other helpful & related resources that you might enjoy:

CTRLQ.org – same as Google Reverse Image Search, seems to be a more direct link & possibly even easier. You can use this right from your cell phone, too!

Reverse image search using your phone or tablet

Use the Chrome app to do a search.

Touch the image you want to search with to open a larger version of the image.

Press and hold the image. In the box that appears, touch Search Google for this image.

I’m sure you can find even more ways to use this and great things to explore with it. Please share. I really love to learn from folks who stop by to read my posts, so let me know what you’re thinking! I’d especially love to hear ways that you’ve used this in school. Feel free to reply here on my blog, on Twitter @kerszi, or on my Facebook page – Integration Innovation!

I had a unique and unexpected learning experience yesterday. I attended Edcamp Exit 8a, the first edcamp ever hosted by the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association (NJPSA). It was their first edcamp, and it also happened to be the first NJPSA event that I had ever attended. As an aspiring administrator, I had just joined the organization and literally received my welcome letter the day before this edcamp.

So there I was, in a room that was predominantly occupied by all kinds of administrators, from supervisors to principals to district-level admins. There was also a smattering of technology experts, coaches, and teachers with various experience. As a new member, I was ready to learn from all of these people.

Something unexpected happened. The edcamp session board, which is always populated on the spot by volunteers from the audience, just wasn’t filling up. As the minutes ticked on and I saw so many vacancies on the grid, I decided to put myself out there and volunteer to present. As even more time passed and the need remained evident, I signed up for two more session presentations (there were only 3 sessions that day) and hoped for the best. I’ve been to well over a dozen edcamps and figured I could facilitate a discussion – or three. To be honest, at that point, I was a little disappointed because my goal had been to come as a learner and to tap into the experience and expertise of others.

It’s my first session that had enough of an impact on me to have me thinking and blogging about it today. My session was titled, “What Is A Technology Integration Specialist?” I am brand new to this role (officially), and I shared that with the group right off the bat. I used an infographic that I had recently created as the basis for the session. (Click HERE for the full infographic, but here’s a small snapshot:

As you can see, the focus was on what tech integration specialists can DO. I explained to the session participants that this was a newly-created position, and that my goal was to present this infographic to the staff members I would be serving in order to show all the ways I can provide services. The response to the ideas was very much favorable, which was validating, to say the least. I was honored that administrators found my delivery models and strategies worthy of replication in their own districts.

The best part came next, though. They started to give me advice. In true edcamp style, the session became a discussion, and the experts in the room began sharing experiences from their own districts. They wanted to help me avoid pitfalls and be successful in my new vocation. The learning I had come for – had craved – was happening as a result of my topic and the collegiality of educational professionals who care!

Here are a few of the extremely valuable revelations they shared:

Have critical discussions with different administrators first. Often a tech integration specialist works under several different principals and supervisors. My friend Rich Czyz (@RACzyz), a NJ principal and former instructional coach, said that it’s really important to see what each building leader expects and to get a feel for the culture of each school. It’s also important to work with the principal/supervisor to establish how things will be presented to staff, what expectations will be for all involved, and how we can support each other to improve technology integration in the school.

One great example involves how to approach teachers who are reluctant to welcome any ‘coach’ into their room…will the principal have that discussion with those teachers and pave the way? Does the supervisor prefer that no “push-in” coaching is done without an invitation by the teacher?

Be clear with staff about what Technology Integration Specialists DON’T do, too. I loved this advice because I hadn’t considered it – and it’s important. One supervisor in the room said that teachers in his school had taken advantage of the fact that another adult was entering the room. Some teachers sat at their desks to grade papers; others actually left the room! In his district, the administrators intervened and explained to the staff that when any ‘coach’ enters the room, it is to help that teacher via new learning, practice, or support. He explained that it is critical to establish this expectation (with administrative support) to every teacher. He also advised that I stay firm if/when teachers may try to take advantage, and to not make exceptions. “Be rigidly consistent” was the exact advice.

Let teachers know that a Tech Integration Specialist is NOT any type of administrator. This was great advice, too! Many teachers get nervous or even resentful another adult coming into their classrooms. One principal told me that it’s really important to get the word out from the get-go that I will never conduct an observation or be judgmental in any way. Classroom teachers and tech integration specialists are compatible (lateral) positions. She advised that I repeat that fact early and often.

As you can see, I left with new insights, new knowledge, and new ideas. Perhaps I started as a presenter, but I finished as a learner. I also ended up with some new contacts and remarkable connections. I’d say that’s growth, and I know that’s exactly the kind of gift that edcamps make possible.

If you have any other advice for me – or thoughts, comments, or opinions, I hope you’ll take the time to comment. You can reach me here at my blog (kerszi.wordpress.com), on Twitter at @kerszi, or follow my Facebook page, which is called Integration Innovation.